INCOMPAS Submits Comments to Federal Communications Commission on BDS, Pole Attachments and STIR/SHAKEN

Last week INCOMPAS filed multiple comments to the FCC in accordance with the agency’s revised guidance on submitting filings after the government shutdown. INCOMPAS submitted comments on:

Business Data Services (BDS): Urging Measured Approach to Deregulation

In its comments on the FCC's Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on business data services, INCOMPAS urged the Commission to take no further action on BDS deregulation until more rigorous competitive benchmarks are established.

"The Commission's approach to defining competitive markets does not reflect actual marketplace dynamics," said Christopher L. Shipley, executive director of Public Policy at INCOMPAS. "Deregulating these markets prematurely, without collocation requirements or adequate transition periods, risks exposing American businesses, schools, hospitals, and government agencies to higher prices and fewer competitive choices."

If the FCC proceeds with further deregulation, INCOMPAS recommended three critical safeguards:

• Meaningful collocation requirements for incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) to facilitate competitive entry, with cost-based pricing at established TELRIC rates.
• A holistic IP interconnection framework and stabilized DS1/DS3 pricing to ensure orderly transition from TDM to IP networks while safeguarding 911 call delivery during the ongoing NG911 transition.
• A 36-month transition period for mandatory detariffing of remaining regulated services, rather than the proposed two years, consistent with Commission precedent in other major regulatory transitions.

Pole Attachments: Supporting Reforms to Accelerate Broadband Deployment

In reply comments on the FCC's Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on pole attachments, INCOMPAS outlined strong support for several key reforms while cautioning against counterproductive mandates that could chill broadband investment.

The association's recommendations include:

• A cost ceiling of 10% on make-ready cost overruns above original estimates, absent attacher approval, to address unpredictable billing that creates budget chaos for competitive providers.
• Firm deadlines of 30-60 days for utilities to submit true-up invoices following make-ready completion.
• 60-day refund requirement when utilities fail to perform make-ready work and attachers must use self-help.
• Clarification that Section 224 applies to utility-owned light poles, which are critical infrastructure for modern wireless deployments in urban areas.
• 30-day firm deadline for utility onboarding of approved contractors to preserve the effectiveness of the self-help remedy.

"The record demonstrates that deployment delays are overwhelmingly caused by utility coordination issues and local permitting processes beyond attachers' control," Shipley said. "Imposing penalties on attachers for delays they cannot prevent would be counterproductive and would chill broadband investment rather than accelerate deployment."

INCOMPAS noted that any deployment deadlines should be at least 240 days with clear exceptions for circumstances beyond attachers' control, including utility delays, permitting authority delays, and force majeure events.

STIR/SHAKEN: Calling for IP Interconnection to Preserve Authentication

In joint comments with the Cloud Communications Alliance, INCOMPAS strongly supported the Commission's efforts to curb illegal robocalls through the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework while highlighting critical structural barriers that undermine its efficacy. The joint comments noted that competitive providers have spent considerable time and resources implementing STIR/SHAKEN, efforts that are wasted when signed calls fail to reach terminating providers with authentication information intact due to TDM networks in the middle of the call chain.

"The efficacy of STIR/SHAKEN is fundamentally undermined by the lack of IP interconnection throughout the call chain," the joint comments stated. "The continued presence of TDM networks frustrates the ability of STIR/SHAKEN to help mitigate illegal calls and will hamper the evolution of STIR/SHAKEN technology to provide verified caller identity."

INCOMPAS and the Alliance recommended that the FCC adopt a national IP interconnection policy establishing a firm, reasonable deadline by which all voice providers must support IP-based call routing and signaling, support the inclusion of Rich Call Data (RCD) in the framework, which enables authentication not just of caller ID numbers but accurate identification of callers, and require enhanced transparency and accountability through provider reporting on STIR/SHAKEN performance metrics.

"While STIR/SHAKEN has made meaningful progress, its full potential remains unrealized due to the persistence of TDM interconnection. More can be done and we urge the Commission to take bold steps to modernize the nation's voice network infrastructure,” Shipley said.

INCOMPAS Files Comments in Wireline Deployment NOI

INCOMPAS filed comprehensive comments in response to the FCC's Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comment on barriers to wireline deployment. INCOMPAS implored the FCC to exercise its authority under Section 253 of the Communications Act to eliminate state and local barriers that are inhibiting the deployment of wireline telecommunications infrastructure across the nation.

"INCOMPAS members are ready to invest billions in next-generation networks that will connect unserved communities and enable AI-driven innovation. However, they cannot do so profitably or sustainably if state and local governments continue to treat broadband deployment as revenue generators or bury projects in delays and unrelated requirements. Excessive fees, unpredictable permitting, and arbitrary conditions are shutting down deployments and keeping communities offline," Staci L. Pies, senior vice president, Government Relations and Policy for INCOMPAS

"Despite clear legal precedent that fees must be cost-based, many localities impose fees that go well beyond their administrative overhead. INCOMPAS members have seen examples like some cities charging 3% to 6% of a provider’s gross revenues or exorbitant fees per linear foot of fiber. Others impose street restoration fees averaging $126 per foot. Elsewhere, providers routinely experience excessive and unpredictable delays, with protracted approval processes stretching months or even years, often causing providers to abandon projects entirely. Additionally, jurisdictions impose burdensome non-monetary conditions unrelated to the actual deployment that raise costs, reduce competition, and delay or prevent communities from receiving broadband service," she added.

"The FCC must act—adopt 30-day shot clocks, set cost-based fee caps, ban unrelated permit conditions, reaffirm Section 253 coverage for broadband and dark fiber, and prevent AI rules from becoming new barriers," Pies concluded. "This proceeding will determine whether America's wireline infrastructure can be deployed at the speed necessary to meet national needs. Our members stand ready to make the investments, we just need a level playing field to do so." 

INCOMPAS Files Response to DoE RFI on Expanding Grid Capacity

INCOMPAS filed comments in the Department of Energy’s (DoE) Request for Information titled Accelerating Speed to Power/Winning the Artificial Intelligence Race: Federal Action to Rapidly Expand Grid Capacity and Enable Electricity Demand Growth.

The association noted that "[n]ow is the time to build out AI infrastructure, modernize our energy grid, and deploy reliable broadband networks to ensure America’s continued leadership. Achieving these goals will require federal, state, and local governments to coordinate to systematically remove barriers to building AI networks and infrastructure, including data centers, transmission capacity, fiber networks, pipelines, and submarine cables. The inefficiencies of building this critical infrastructure under current regulatory and bureaucratic regimes has resulted in unnecessary and costly delays, uncertainty, and unpredictability, which disincentivize the capital investment needed to keep pace with China’s intensive and unbridled AI infrastructure deployments."

It added, "The continued success of innovation depends on a robust, reliable, and affordable

electricity grid capable of meeting rapidly expanding digital demand. INCOMPAS strongly supports DOE’s leadership in recognizing the intersection between AI, data infrastructure, and the nation’s energy future. Speed to power remains one of the most critical challenges for

American competitiveness. The Department’s attention to this issue—and its intent to identify

federal actions that can expand grid capacity and enable faster, smarter, and more secure

deployment—is both timely and essential."

Key to this includes: 

• Streamlining the permitting and siting processes
• Improving load forecasting and queue management
• Addressing grid infrastructure constraints
• Enhancing grid security and resilience
• Encouraging domestic energy generation and innovation

FCC Waives Rules on Rural Health Program Rural Rates

The FCC Wireline Competition Bureau issued an order granting on its own motion a waiver of the rules to permit the use of previously approved rural rates from funding years 2023-2025 for funding year 2026 that would otherwise require approval of a cost-based justification.

The bureau said this action will ease administrative burdens for applicants of the Telecommunications Program of the Rural Health Care Program.

White House Circulates Draft Executive Order on State AI Laws

The Trump Administration circulated a six-page draft executive order titled "Eliminating State Law Obstruction of National AI Policy." The draft says that AI dominance will be delivered “through a minimally burdensome, uniform national policy framework for AI.” Delivering that policy framework, the draft order says, should fall to agencies including the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, the FCC, the Federal Trade Commission and the President’s Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, working in concert with various other parts of the executive branch that are concerned with AI policy.